Footballer defrauding clubs by posing as negotiator in transfers, demanding advances
A 26-year-old Dutch footballer has allegedly been defrauding football clubs in the Netherlands and abroad, De Telegraaf reports. He poses as a management member of football clubs to negotiate the purchase of players and convinces clubs to pay him an advance. Death threats have been made, according to the newspaper. The Dutch football association KNVB, as well as multiple clubs, have reported the footballer to the police.
“We take the matter very seriously. Because of the death threats that have been made and the international character,” KNVB board secretary Mark Boetekees told the Telegraaf. The football association has warned Dutch clubs to be alert.
According to the newspaper, the footballer convinced clubs to pay him transfer advances ranging from 2,500 euros to several tens of thousands of euros. Several clubs have reported these incidents to the police, and the KNVB has now also filed a report. “We, as the KNVB, have now informed the national police unit to take the matter to a higher level,” Boetekees said.
The Telegraaf has one of the police reports in its possession. The victim went looking for a striker for a club in the former Soviet Union and made contact with the Dutch scammer. He was supposed to pay a deposit of 15,000 euros, but the bank blocked the payment. The scammer then threatened him. “We have your passport details and will find you. We’ll take everything away from you. You will never find me,” the scammer said, according to the police report.
The newspaper spoke to six club directors and managers who fell victim to the Dutch scammer. Several have gone to the police, and one has hired a private investigator.
A director of a Dutch club in the Keukenkampioen Divisie had his identity stolen by the suspect, the newspaper reports. A Belgian agent approached him in December asking for clarification after negotiations he allegedly conducted regarding the transfer of a player. The Belgian club had paid an advance. “I didn’t know what it was about. Then it turned out that someone had pretended to be me,” he told the newspaper. “I received a contract proposal with my name underneath and the logo of our club.” His identity was used in this way multiple times.
According to the victims, the scammer is a 26-year-old footballer with Dutch and another nationality who played for the Sparta youth, Roda, and a Swedish club.
